The Secretary issued the rule after finding that vaccination of healthcare workers against COVID-19 was "necessary for the health and safety of individuals to whom care and services are furnished." Id., at 61561. In many facilities, 35% or more of staff remain unvaccinated, id., at 61559, and those staff, the Secretary explained, pose a serious threat to the health and safety of patients. That determination was based on data showing that the COVID-19 virus can spread rapidly among healthcare workers and from them to patients, and that such spread is more likely when healthcare workers are unvaccinated. Id., at 61558-61561, 61567-61568, 61585-61586.
Except that the vaccine neither prevents contracting nor transmitting the virus. So, it matters not whether one is vaccinated, since both are consistently testing positive for SARS-COV-2 infection.